Universities Are on an AI Philosopher Hiring Spree
Artificial intelligence is raising existential questions about knowledge and humanity—and creating exploding demand for philosophy professors equipped to investigate them.
Numerous philosophy departments have hired faculty to focus on AI, exploring questions such as what it means to have a mind and what constitutes knowledge.
Photo illustration by Justin Morrison/Inside Higher Ed | membio/iStock/Getty Images
The job market for humanities scholars may be bleaker than ever—except for the handful of academics who specialize in the philosophy of artificial intelligence.
Although a small subset of philosophers have long worked at the intersection of science and technology, the rapid integration of generative AI into daily life over the past four years has heightened demand for their expertise. Philosophy departments across the country have already hired faculty for new, AI-specific positions, and a quick scan of the online job board PhilJobs.com shows that the trend isn’t slowing down. So far this fall, more than a dozen philosophy departments—including at Purdue University, the University of Illinois at Chicago and the Georgia Institute of Technology—have announced searches for AI-focused tenure-track faculty. ...
